Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It

Rating:
Summary: Smells like fiction
Review: Takedown appealed to me as a story of overzelous CIA agents and computer crackers working for the government "taking down" threats to the internet and persoanl privacy. I thought I would be able to cheer on the Shimomura as he fought to protect the freedoms of america. I was petrified at what this guy did. He basically walked over the personal freedoms of anyone who got in the way of his inflamed ego, and sent Kevin to jail for copying cds! Then the guy never even gets a trial or bail hearing! I found myself reading this book and feeling sour all the way about the guys I was supposed to be cheering on untill I was hoping Shimomura went to jail. Also, it was written terribly, and later I found out that John Markoff never interviewed Kevin once! The whole things just shameful.
-JJ, Systems Analyist

Rating:
Summary: My God, What a load of....
Review: This book was painful to read. It is poorly written drivel. If you are truly interested in the topic, there are much better books written on Mitnick, Hacking/Phreaking, and/or computer security issues. With every paragraph that Shimomura writes about his love life (and there are plenty of them,) the book, (although calling it that is insulting to other books) continues on a long downward spiral into the absolute load of poop that it is. I feel sorry that paper was wasted to create this mess. I cannot believe I wasted several hours of my life reading this.

Rating:
Summary: Read anything BUT this!
Review: This is a terrible unrealistic account of what happend to Kevin Mitnick. It's blantantly biased and geared towards Shimoura's inflated ego. Kevin Mitnick has tried very hard to sue Shimoura for this book. If you really have to read it get from the library, no one deserves to profit from this disaster.